40. A King Is Coming Isaiah

God’s people in both Israel and Judah were in big trouble. Their enemies kept defeating them.

One of God’s messengers was Isaiah. Isaiah brought a warning for the kings and the people:

“You have stopped believing God’s promises. You have stopped loving and obeying God, and stopped loving each other. You have worshipped made-up not-gods.

“Soon God will not let you live in his land. You will be made to go somewhere else and be ruled by other people.

“All God’s promises will be undone.”

But Isaiah also brought a promise for the kings and the people:

“One day the king you need will come to rescue you. He will be God himself, living with you.

He will be from David’s family, and he will rule you perfectly. He will take the punishment you deserve for not loving and obeying God.

And then he will rule as king forever.

“When this king comes… Wolves will be friends with sheep. Blind people will be able to see. People who can’t walk will skip and jump. Dead people will come back to life. There will be nothing that’s bad, so no one will ever feel sad.

“When this king comes, all God’s promises will come true. Life will be better than ever before.”

41. Jonah and the Big Fish

Jonah

One day God told Jonah to go to the powerful city of Nineveh with a message: “God is going to punish you for not loving him and not loving other people.”

Jonah did not like the people of Nineveh. So he did not like the idea that they might listen to him and be sorry, and that God would forgive them and not punish them.

Jonah prayed to God. “Thank you for rescuing me, God!” he said.

Jonah was inside the fish for three days and nights, and then God made it spit him out onto dry land.

Again, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah obeyed. When they heard God’s message, the king of Nineveh and all the people were very sorry. They changed how they lived. They hoped God would forgive them. And God did.

Jonah was very annoyed. But God was very pleased. “You care most about things that keep you comfortable,” God told Jonah. “But I care most about people.”

42. Out of the Land

2 Kings 17; 24:8-16; Ezekiel

Hoshea was king of Israel. He did not love or obey God. The people were the same.

God sent lots of messengers to warn them that if they chose to disobey him, he would choose to make them leave the land. But no one would listen.

Jehoiachin was king of Judah. He did not love or obey God. The people were the same. So God let the mighty king of Babylon defeat the king of Judah. The temple in Jerusalem where God had lived among his people was destroyed, and the people had to leave the land and go and live as strangers in Babylon. There, the people were sadder than they had ever been.

Ezekiel was one of God’s messengers. “God says, ‘I kept my promise that you would have to leave my land,’” he told the people. “‘But now I promise to rescue you and bring you back to the land. I will keep that promise too.

‘I will give you the king you need. And I will send my Spirit to live in you. He will help you to obey me.’”